By Charles Gardner —
With the Australian government reported to be on the verge of rewarding Middle East terror with recognition of a Palestinian state, pro-Israel Christian leaders have responded with fury.
“Are we now going to turn our backs on Israel and the Jewish people and force upon them a sovereign state that could ultimately lead to their destruction, if not annihilation?” they asked.
Representing the Southern Cross Alliance for Israel in a letter whose signatories include Wimbledon tennis legend Margaret Court, chairman John Lockwood asked: “How will this bring peace when every time Israel has consented to give more land away, terrorism and hatred against the Jewish people has intensified?”
Reminding his government how Australian soldiers had paved the way for Jewish restoration with victory in the Battle of Beersheba in 1917, he said: “Israel is a light to the nations and has helped other countries in so many fields – science, agriculture, medicine, psychology, information technology, philosophy etc – yet we treat them as if they have no worth even though Australia has benefited from their expertise.”
And yet, he challenged, “Australia is going to tell them that they need to give up more land that will likely seal their destruction? Is this how we treat our close friends?”
Meanwhile, in a response to an open letter from 100 Christian leaders calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as well as the withdrawal of any kind of military aid to Israel, the Australia, New Zealand and Indian branch of the Church’s Ministry among Jewish people (CMJ) also pointed out that accession to such demands would almost certainly mean the end of the Jewish state.
The evangelical leaders of the 19th and 20th centuries – including William Wilberforce, Charles Simeon, and Lord Shaftesbury – “must surely be turning in their graves”, CMJ suggested.
For it was primarily through their advocacy that the Balfour Declaration calling for the restoration of the Jewish homeland came about. These men had seen this as a condition of the Lord’s return. But God will judge those nations who divide his land (Joel 3:2).
As for the so-called ‘two-state solution’ advocated by Western nations, several such land-for-peace deals have already been offered – without bringing peace.
There was the creation of Trans-Jordan (later to become Jordan), way back in 1921, on land originally earmarked for Israel, followed by the UN Partition Plan of 1947, rejected outright by the Arabs.
More recently, in 2005, Israel succumbed to international pressure by withdrawing from Gaza, opening the door for Hamas to take over the enclave in 2007. And they have been firing rockets at their Jewish neighbours ever since.
This is a point rarely made by a media obsessed with accusing Israel of a disproportionate response to their attack and being over-reliant on disinformation spewed out by a terrorist organization.
Israel, on the other hand, goes to great lengths to preserve life, in stark contrast to the culture of death of fanatical Islamists vowing to exterminate Jews in a second holocaust.
In a letter signed by Martin Weatherston and Keven McIldowie, CMJ calls on fellow Christians to “brush up on their history”.
A ‘two-state solution’ is “totally unrealistic”, they argue. And Christians, of all people, must surely align themselves with God’s covenant promise of the land to his chosen people.
A debate on the issue in Australia’s Federal Parliament is scheduled for May 14, the 76th birthday of the modern Jewish state.
